Bird Girl

by Megan Rose

  “They have.” Lana stuck her nose in the air. Why wasn’t she all over this guy like she was with Mark? She looked at him like he was some sort of rodent.

  “You’ve just got the whole package,” he said, “just like me.” He winked. Lana rolled her eyes and turned around to walk to the back of the salon.

  “Oh, Mark!” she said when she realized he was there too and ran back up to the front. “Don’t forget about our business dinner.” She patted him on the cheek and then walked to the employee lounge.

  “Hard to get,” Bryan said. “I like it.”

  “Bryan?” Mark heard Lacey’s excited voice from the back of the room where she was styling some poor little girl’s oily hair.

  “Lace!” He put his arms out and she ran over to him, scissors in hand. Mark stepped in and snatched the scissors from her before she impaled herself, but she didn’t seem to notice. She was too busy hugging the great Bryan with her good arm.

  “Oh, I’ve missed you so much!” Lacey said, not acknowledging Mark at all.

  “I bet you have.” He held onto her like she belonged to him and Mark felt the urge to pick his hands off of Lacey’s back. “Listen, can we go out somewhere? I wanted to talk to you. Wait, what happened to your hair? And your arm? Are you cutting hair one-handed?”

  “Oh, I just slipped in the shower. No big deal. And I’m mostly styling hair, not cutting, but I can do a little bit of cutting if I take my sling off and use my other hand a little. And I was just trying something new with my hair. Anyway, that’s not important. This is my last appointment,” she said. “Just hang around and when I’m done we can go grab dinner.” She turned to Mark for the first time. “You don’t mind, do you Mark?”

  “No,” he said, “not at all. Just,” he looked at Bryan, “have her home before midnight,” he half-joked.

  “Who’s this, your brother?” Bryan jerked his thumb towards Mark. Lacey laughed.

  “No he’s my…” her eyes searched the room like she would find the answer floating in the air, “my roommate. He’s my roommate.”

  “Oh, I see.” Bryan raised his eyebrows and looked at Mark. “If you’re ever interested in being set up, California is full of guys like you,” he said.

  “What?” Mark glanced at Lacey who was holding in laughter.

  “You know…what’s the politically correct term? Homosexuals,” he said, proud that he had managed to mention gay people and not offend anyone.

  “What?! You think I’m – no, no, no. I’m not gay. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.” Why did he feel like he had had this conversation before? Oh, that’s right. He had. With Lacey. “I’m just her roommate; I’m not gay or anything.”

  “Oh alright,” Bryan patted him on the shoulder, “don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me. I won’t tell anyone.” He put his finger over his lips and Lacey burst out laughing.

  “Mark, are you sure you’re not gay? You did come in here to get your hair cut after all.” He could tell she was joking, but he wasn’t in the mood. He came to get his hair cut to make her happy, not to have his sexuality questioned.

  “Okay, well you guys have fun,” he said curtly and turned towards the door.

  “Mark, wait.” Lacey put her hand on his shoulder and turned him back around. “We were just kidding. We don’t really think you’re gay.” She smiled up at him.

  “Seriously, I know some really hot babes in California I could set you up with if you want. They’re a little bitchy, but that’s the price you pay to get a hot girlfriend, know what I mean? Don’t have to worry about that with this one over here,” Bryan said and patted Lacey on the shoulder. She looked at him confusedly.

  “Yeah, great,” Mark said. “Thanks. I’ll see you guys later.”

  ✽✽✽

  10:00 that night Mark dried his hair off with a towel in the gym locker room. He had ordered pizza to have for dinner at the store and had spent the past three hours using the gym equipment, cleaning the gym equipment, and showering. He supposed he finally had to go home now and hear how great Lacey’s date with Bryan was.

  Well, he didn’t have to go to Lacey’s. He could go to his own apartment. That way he wouldn’t have to hear about her big, exciting date. But what if Bryan acted like a jerk (which was highly possible) and she was upset? She’d need someone there for her.

  He couldn’t just go home and not even check on her. Mark’s guess was that Bryan flirted with every other woman they encountered on their night out and then treated Lacey like dirt. Even Lacey’s self-esteem wasn’t low enough that she’d deal with that.

  Mark locked up the gym and store and started to make his way back to Lacey’s apartment. That stupid jerk. She was so happy that morning, and now Mark would probably find her on the couch crying over some idiot who didn’t even deserve her.

  ✽✽✽

  There wasn’t any light coming from underneath the door to Lacey’s apartment. She was probably sitting in the dark, eating candy, and crying her eyes out. He should have just lied to that guy when he saw him and told him that Lacey didn’t live there anymore. Maybe he’d have been stupid enough to believe him.

  Mark quietly opened the door and turned on the light. “Oh!” he yelped. “Sorry!” He jumped and turned around, closing the door behind him. Well, that was stupid. He should have called or something first. If he could un-see anything in the world it would be that image that was now stamped in his brain of Lacey sitting on Bryan’s lap and making out with him, his hand creeping up her shirt. He gagged. Making his way to his truck, he reached for the front door to the building.

  “Mark, wait!” Lacey came running after him in her little mini skirt and bare feet. “I’m so sorry! I texted you!”

  “I didn’t see it,” he said. Actually, he hadn’t looked at his phone all day. “And I really wish I hadn’t seen that.”

  “Oh Mark, come on. It was no big deal. It’s not like we were – “

  “It doesn’t matter what you were doing!” Mark said as he covered his ears. “I don’t want to hear about it. Just don’t bother to contact me while that jerk’s here, okay? I can’t stand to be in the same room as him.”

  “Jerk? Mark, you’ve known him for five minutes! How can you just say he’s a jerk? You know nothing about him. He’s actually a really great guy. And you should get used to him. He might be moving here and then you’ll have to deal with him, especially if you want to deal with me.”

  “Alright, well tell him I hope he knows how to handle you, because – “

  “How to handle me? What am I, a dog? You know, Mark, you are so insensitive! And hey, I haven’t used this word in a while, overprotective! You want to be a dictator, get a dog. They’ll do whatever you say!”

  Mark threw his hands in the air and stormed away, slamming the door to his truck behind him. The engine fired up and he pulled out of the parking spot without looking behind him. He could hear Lacey let out a frustrated scream and then heard the door to her apartment building slam.

  If she wanted to be with a jerk, that was fine with him. She was just some girl he got roped into taking care of, and now he was free of that responsibility. That Bryan guy could take over. Even as he thought it, though, he knew things weren’t going to end well for Lacey.

  ✽✽✽

  “Sorry Bryan.” Lacey closed the door to her apartment behind her and made her way back over to the couch, where he was sitting with his feet up on the coffee table. “Oh, just be careful,” she said. “The coffee table’s not very sturdy.” She put her hand on her forehead. She had a headache. And she was suddenly very sad.

  “Yeah, I can tell,” he said but didn’t move his feet. “Actually, your whole apartment’s pretty shitty. If I move here, you’ll move in with me.”

  “Oh, well I don’t know about that. I kind of like my apartment. And I don’t really want to move in with anyone until I’m at least engaged I think.” Bryan laughed.

  “Alright, well that’s enough chit-chat for now. Let’s ge
t down to business.” He pushed Lacey down on the couch and climbed on top of her.

  “Bryan, why don’t we just watch a movie or something?” Bird Girl was getting tired.

  “Because I don’t want to. Okay, now how do I get your shirt off with this stupid cast-thing in the way?”

  “You don’t,” Lacey said. “Sorry if I led you on or something, but I really don’t want to do anything. You’ve been back for one day and I haven’t seen you for four years. We kind of have a lot of catching up to do.”

  “That’s what I’m trying to do. Catch up.” He tugged on her shirt and tried to pull it over her head.

  “Ow! Bryan, my arm! Just leave it, okay?”

  “Fine,” he grunted. Then he reached down to unbutton his pants.

  “Bryan, stop it! We’re not going to do anything!”

  “Oh, come on. You got one good hand, right?” He laughed. “It’s no big deal.”

  “No! Stop. Listen, just let me up. I think you should go.”

  “Jesus, why are you being such a bitch?” he asked.

  “What?” Lacey tried to sit up but Bryan grasped her wrists and pinned her down to the couch.

  “Listen to me, I don’t know what’s happened to you, but four years ago you’d be fawning all over me right now. I know you want this. You’re just upset over that gay guy. Don’t let him ruin your night. I’m sure you guys will be friends again in the morning.” He reached for her sling and yanked it off. Then he managed to pull her shirt over her head.

  “Ow! My arm! Stop it, you jerk! Get off of me!” She tried to push him off of her, but she only had one hand and he was stronger than her. “Bryan!” she yelled as he unzipped her skirt. “Stop!” She slapped him across the face with her left hand. Unfortunately, she was right-handed, so it wasn’t that good of a slap.

  “You really are a bitch,” he said. “I can’t believe I came all the way back here just to see you. You realize you’ve got absolutely nothing going for you? You’re a hairdresser. You’re not very pretty. You could’ve had me, and then maybe you would have had something good in your boring, pathetic little life, but no. And that’s not how you slap a person.” He slapped Lacey hard across the face. “That’s how you slap a person.” He got up off of her and buttoned his pants, walking over to the door.

  “What happened to you?” Lacey asked as her eyes filled with tears. “Why have you changed so much? What happened?”

  “I haven’t changed at all,” he said. “You’ve changed. You think you’re some strong woman now who stands her ground, but really you’re just a pathetic little stick figure who just lost her chance. What’s that hot girl’s name down at your hair place?”

  “Lana,” Lacey said and took a deep breath. “And you can try, but you won’t be able to get her. Even she’s too good for you.” Bryan laughed and closed the door behind him. A minute later she heard the door to the building slam.

  Now she was alone. Why didn’t she remember what a jerk Bryan was? After all, when he originally moved to California it was basically so that he could find a hotter girlfriend. That’s not what he told people, but Lacey knew. How could she have forgotten all of the mean things he had done and how controlling he was? All of the bad memories she had with him seemed to come rushing back.

  Lacey pulled her yellow afghan off of the couch and wrapped it around her. She lay down and her tears slipped through her closed eyes. She would just go to sleep. Everything would be better if she could just go to sleep.

  Chapter 11

  At 9:00 the next morning Mark woke up and realized his alarm never went off. Then he realized it probably did go off, but since he seemed to be missing his phone, he didn’t hear it. Well, that made sense as to why he didn’t get Lacey’s text last night.

  There was a 99% chance his phone was at Lacey’s. Okay, so he was going to have to go over there. Maybe he could just use his key, slip in and get his phone, and slip out without anyone noticing. Bryan and Lacey were probably both asleep in her bed anyway. The thought made Mark want to puke. Okay, slip in, slip out. Like the Karate Kid. Kind of.

  Mark pulled into a parking spot and took his sunglasses off. He stalled for a minute, fiddling with his keys until he eventually took a breath, opened his door, and walked up to the apartment building. Marveling yet again at the unsafety of the place, Mark opened the unlocked front door to the building and walked up to Lacey’s door.

  He could knock. Maybe he should knock. Maybe if he didn’t knock he’d see something else he didn’t want to see. He knocked. No answer.

  Okay, slip in, slip out, he thought. Slowly he turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. It was still dark inside, the blinds were closed, and everything seemed to be silent. Maybe they went out to breakfast. Then he heard a sniff and a tissue being pulled from a box. “Mark?” a muffled voice asked.

  “Lacey?” He reached for the switch and turned on the light. There was Lacey, wrapped up like a burrito in her yellow blanket on the couch, eyes red and puffy, tissues strewn about the room. “Lacey, what happened?”

  He closed the door and knelt down next to the couch. He didn’t have to ask. He already knew what had happened. That Bryan guy was a jerk and he had hurt Lacey. Why had he gotten so upset and left last night? He should have stayed the night. He knew this was going to happen.

  “Mark, I’m so sorry.” Lacey sobbed. “I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s okay.” Mark shook his head. “You didn’t do anything.”

  “Yes, I did.” She paused. “The other morning, a few days before I broke my elbow, I woke up and I felt really good and I just ran out of the house without taking my pills.” Along with her little blue pill and white tablet was a pink capsule.

  “So I remembered when I got to the salon, but I had an appointment, and I was feeling good anyway.” She blew her nose. “So I just skipped it. I thought it would be okay. And then Bryan texted me and I was so excited and I just figured I was so happy I didn’t need to take the pills anymore, so I didn’t take them. But then last night you came over and I realized I didn’t feel so good, and I wanted to tell you to stay but I knew Bryan wouldn’t like that.

  “So I thought maybe he’d cheer me up and we could watch a movie. I mean, my plans hadn’t originally been to watch a movie, they had been to…well, you know, but I changed my mind after you came over. And now I don’t know what to do and I don’t even know how many pills I’ve skipped and I –" the rest was a mumbled mess of words that Mark couldn’t understand.

  “Lacey,” he tried to comfort her but it was hard with how she was lying down. “Lacey, sit up. I’ll get you something to eat and I’ll call the doctor and ask what to do about you skipping your pills. It’ll be fine. Just take some deep breaths.”

  She flopped around on the couch until she was eventually sitting up with the blanket wrapped around her. “Take that blanket off, it’s 90 degrees outside.” He glanced around her apartment and noticed her sling was on the ground. “What’s this doing here?” He picked it up then noticed the shirt next to it. “Lace?” Her eyes filled with tears again and she began sobbing. Okay, this wasn’t good.

  “I forgot,” she said. “I forgot what a jerk he is.” Lacey explained to him what had happened but left out the part where Bryan slapped her. She had a feeling if she told him that Mark would hunt Bryan down and kill him. After all, he was overprotective. The more she spoke, the more the vein in his neck popped out and his face turned a strange shade of purple.

  “But it’s okay!” she said, hoping to calm him down. “I’m fine now. I just…just let me go put a shirt on.” She stood up with the afghan wrapped around her and strode down to her bedroom. “It’s really okay,” she called. “I’m feeling much better. I’m not a complete loser, otherwise I wouldn’t have a friend like you, right?” There was no answer.

  “Mark?” Lacey came out of her room wearing her Special Olympics volunteer t-shirt and saw that her apartment door was open. “Mark!” She ran outside and saw him starting his truck. �
�Mark, wait! What are you doing?”

  He rolled down the window as he put his sunglasses on. “I’m going to get us breakfast,” he said.

  “No you’re not! You’re going to find Bryan, aren’t you?”

  "If I happen to see him on the way, I’ll just give him a friendly punch hello.” He shifted gears.

  “Mark, no!” Lacey ran around his truck and stood behind it so he couldn’t back out. “I’m not letting you go anywhere! You have to calm down. It’s all over with now. I’m fine and he’s not going to bother me anymore, trust me.

  “Let’s just go inside and have something to eat for breakfast. Unless you stocked up the fridge all I have are croissants and ice cream, which I’m sure could be considered breakfast.” Mark sat still in his truck, the engine rumbling. “Mark?”

  The car shifted back into park and Mark rolled up his window. He got out of his truck and slammed the door. “Fine. I’ll leave him alone. But he better not come bother me. I won’t be held responsible for my actions if he does,” he said.

  "Okay,” Lacey jogged up next to him and took his arm as they went back into her apartment. “Okay, now how about some croissants and ice –" Lacey’s face changed. “No, no, no!”

  “What?” Mark whipped around. “What’s wrong?”

  “I can’t have ice cream! I have to fit into that dress!” She gasped. “Wait. I can’t wear the dress, because I can’t go to the wedding!”

  “What are you talking about?” A fountain of tears started pouring from her eyes.

  “I don’t have a date! I am such a loser! My best friend, who’s younger than me, and smarter than me, and prettier than me is getting married and I can’t fit into my dress and I don’t even have a date and I just wish I were dead!”

  “Lacey,” Mark walked over to her calmly and lifted her chin up with his finger. “I was going to ask you the other day– will you be my date to Mayra’s wedding?”

  “What? No you weren’t. You just feel sorry for me.”